Two 65-year-old Novato residents hurt in Highway 101 crash

Two 65-year-old Novato residents were hospitalized, one with major injuries, early Saturday morning when their car swerved across all lanes of northbound Highway 101 just past the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard on-ramp, careened onto a rock embankment on the eastern hillside and smashed into a concrete barrier on the right shoulder, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Their 2002 Volkswagen Golf was so seriously damaged in the 1 a.m. crash that the driver, Donna Kalal, and passenger, Burton Greenspan, were trapped inside and had to be pulled from the car by fire department rescuers. They were taken to Marin General Hospital. Greenspan's injuries were described as major. Kalal suffered moderate injures, the CHP said.

The three right lanes of the freeway were blocked for 90 minutes while debris was cleared. Officers said they did not know what caused the driver to lose control of the car and swerve across the freeway. Cause of the crash is under investigation.